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Beauty Salons Tackling Domestic Violence |
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Posted by family dynamics on February 25, 2008
The clubby combination of intimacy and support in the local salon gave New York City Children’s Services’ Ingrid Dominguez the idea to deal with a serious problem: domestic violence. Dominguez developed a program to train salon operators to spot and help victims of abuse.
The training session in New York City’s Washington Heights area is tailored to Hispanic women. The stylists are taught to look for clues like bruises and missing patches of hair, or signs of being controlled and isolated. They learn how to gently guide distressed women to seek help. Trained operators can provide a contact to help with housing relocation, childcare support and medical insurance. But without guidance from a trusted source, most victims are too afraid to ask for help.
Solorzano reports that salon employees in Washington Heights know domestic violence. A woman who worked at one salon walked outside with her boyfriend and he stabbed her to death in the middle of the street, right in front of her coworkers.
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